The Best Italian Fashion, Beauty and Style Magazines

Why are Italian fashion magazines the best in the world? Their circulation, advertisement and editorial budgets may seem small, at least by the standards set by mass-market American publications. Even if you don’t understand the language, flipping through the pages of Italian fashion magazines can be a visual feast. The reason for this is rooted, at least in part, in Italy’s history as a leader of visual design. Indeed, while everybody knows that a German invented the printing press, it didn’t take very long before Italians asserted themselves as unrivaled master typographers. Add to such specific heritage Italy’s general obsession with art, beauty and sensuality, and the Italian fashion editors’ dedication to excellence in styling, design and photography starts to make sense. You don’t believe us? Select a few titles from the following directory and see for yourself!

UNDERSTANDING ITALIAN PUBLICATIONS

Italian fashion publications are known worldwide as some of the most stylish, both in terms of graphics and defining new trends and tendencies. There are several categories of fashion publications: Industry, General Public (both Italian based and Italian versions of foreign publications), and Gossip/Lifestyle.

Those considered Industry publications include Collezioni, Book Moda, and Vogue Italia. In Italy, Vogue Italia, unlike Vogue USA, is mostly read by people who work in the fashion industry, and not so much by the general public. The other Conde Nast Vogue editions, Vogue L’Uomo, Vogue Gioiello, Vogue Sposa, and Vogue Bambini are also considered industry publications. You can find them on select newsstands, but not widely distributed. Book Moda and Collezioni are just that: gatherings of all the images of the collections for each season from the catwalks. They are a complete look at what is coming off the runways.

The General Public fashion publications, found easily at newsstands and through home delivery subscriptions, are in two groups: foreign and national. The first includes the Italian editions of foreign publications, such as Elle, Marie Claire, and Vanity Fair, and the second includes Italian publications, such as Gioia, Grazia, Flair, Donna Moderna, and Amica. In recent years there has been a rise in readership of national fashion magazines distributed once a week as an insert in daily newspapers, such as D distributed with La Repubblica.

Gossip/Lifestyle publications, such as Chi, are comparable to the many celebrity gossip publications you can find at US checkout stands. They focus on what celebrities are wearing as much as celebrities’ private affairs. These are published weekly and easily found at newsstands.

Italian fashion publications have a strong tradition of women at the helm. Franca Sozzani, taking over at Vogue Italia in 1988, is credited with transforming the fashion publishing industry. Grazia’s Editor, Vera Montanari, is considered an international authority in the field of fashion publications, and has helped spread a Made In Italy aesthetic all over the world thanks to her feminine, refined taste. Another important woman in publishing is the director of Donna Moderna, the most popular fashion magazine in Italy, with a distribution of about 500,000.

Italian Fashion Sets the Trends

In fashion there is one simple rule: what's hot is what's Italian. Italy is the trendsetter for the world in luxury fashion, and luxury of course sets the pace for trends in fast-fashion and mid-markets. Why is this?
Italy has some strong fashion peers, France and England among them, but no other country besides Italy has such a long-enduring and widespread tradition of making beautiful designs with the utmost attention to craftsmanship. Secret techniques have been passed down from artisan to artisan over many generations in Italy. Italian designers are immersed in this craftsman culture and it informs their designs and shapes their careers. It is important to understand that it is this craftsman's history alive today on the Italian runways when you see a breathtaking innovative couture collection in Milan.
Also, it is important to remember that Italian fashion designers, from the day they are born, are surrounded by some of the most beautifully accomplished art and architecture in the Western world. For example, in one afternoon a Roman designer can take a walk and experience the architecture of the Pantheon and Coliseum, the sculptures of Bernini in the piazzas, and the paintings of Caravaggio in the churches and museums. A Florentine designer can similarly enjoy the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. It is no accident that Valentino and Bulgari produce bold beautiful designs in true Roman fashion and that Ferragamo translates the elegance of Florence in every shoe it makes.
This "culture of art" without question inspires and influences designs in Italian fashion; no other country can compare to Italy in offering such an abundance of creative cultural artifact. In fact, of all countries Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and this small nation is also home to more than half of the entire Western world’s great art treasures. If you are curious about how Italy is interpreting and reinventing its rich culture of art and artisan history today, you need look no further than the fashion runways.

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